Those who hear Ernestine Schumann-Heink's incredible performance of the "Drinking song" from Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia listen in disbelief to her fantastic control and tonal beauty on recordings made
almost a century ago. This remarkable contralto (1861-1936) made her debut at age 17 as Azucena in Il trovatore, then went on to major successes at the Hamburg, Dresden, Covent Garden, and other leading opera
houses. She sang the Alto Rhapsody for Brahms to the composer's high
approval. Schumann-Heink was a favorite at Bayreuth, sang in the complete Ring
under Mahler's direction in England (although she didn't get along with him) and performed at the Met for three decades
giving her final performance in 1932, as Erda in the Wagner's Ring, at
the age of 70! In 1909 she created the role of Clytemnestra in the world premiere of Strauss' Elektra,
an event she did not enjoy. After her first and only performance of
the role she said, "It was frightful. We were a set of mad
women. There is nothing beyond Elektra." She starred on
Broadway in 1904 in a second-rate operetta, Love's Lottery, which had a
run of about seven months. In this she portrayed a German washerwoman,
which suited her fine -- she was totally unpretentious. During the latter
part of her career she gave countless concerts throughout the U.S.
American troops called her "Mother Schumann" and appeared at
numerous fund-raising functions singing "Just Before the Battle,
Mother," " The Star Spangled Banner "(having no difficulty
whatever with its wide range) and "When the Boys Come Home." She
also made guest appearances on a comic soap opera, The Goldbergs and her
annual broadcast of Silent Night was a Christmas ritual for millions of
Americans.

Her personal life
was for the most part gratifying although of her three husbands she was only
happy with the second. In 1882 she married Ernest Heink, secretary of the
Dresden Opera, a union that lasted only a short time -- he deserted her.
In 1894 she married actor Paul Schumann, a union that produced two children, and
they had a happy marriage until his death in 1904. Her third husband was a
a Chicago lawyer, William Rapp, who soon disappeared. She had seven
children (including a son named George Washington Schumann-Heink), and had to
raise the first four by herself when Heink deserted her. She became an American
citizen in 1908. One of her sons,
August, decided to her dismay he would fight for Germany in World War I (he was
killed in combat).
Three other sons enlisted in the American armed forces, each recognized for
their service to their country. Her sizeable fortune was wiped out by
the 1929 Depression. She had to work to try to take care of her many
dependants even though her remarkable voice was failing. Schumann-Heink even
sang Katisha in The Mikado (she had done so very early in her
career), and sank as far as singing in movie houses between features, ending up
performing four times a day in vaudeville with an outfit known as Roxy and
hisGang. In 1935 she moved to Los Angeles, made a film,
Here's to Romance, and died the following year of leukemia.

Volume I of Romophone's issue of her complete recordings contains her
acoustic recordings the first of which was made in 1900. The set includes arias from Le Prophéte, Samson et Delilah, Mignon, Orpheus und
Eurydice, Das Rheingold, Rienzi, Sapho and La clemenza di Tito, as well as folk and popular songs. Some of the earliest recordings are introduced by Mme.
Heink, and there is some duplication archival collectors will find valuable -- in particular the Donizetti "Drinking Song," which she recorded four times: in 1903 (two takes), 1906, and 1909.

Volume II contains the Victor recordings made from 1911-1920. Of major
interest is a series of 12 recordings made in 1915 in just two days.
Repertory is mostly songs and lieder as well as the famous 1913 recording
of "Ai nostri monti" from Verdi's Il trovatore, with Enrico
Caruso. Hearing all these tidbits (The RobinSings in the
Appletree by MacDowell, Down in the Forest by Ronald, etc. etc.)
surely is enjoyable -- she sings them magnificently -- but how unfortunate she
didn't sing more of the major works of the contralto repertory. Both
volumes display vocal artistry unmatched today, and are highly recommended.
Ward Marston's transfers
are superb. No texts or translations, but fine notes by Edward Hagelin
Pearson about the contralto's life and career. Both sets are highly
recommended; most of the vocal fireworks will be found in Volume I.